A Blank Page
by measuremesky
Summary: A intriguing yet puzzling new girl comes to town, and gets too close to uncovering Static and Gear's secret identities. A lesson is learned about learning to let others into your heart and discovering your own self-worth.
1. News for A Blank Page

Hey guys, I know it has been a really, really long time since I've been on Fanfiction. But I wanted to say that I was thinking of redoing my story A Blank Page. It's not going in the direction I've wanted to, and I've found stories I've started in the past that could fit into the story real well. Ultimately, the story will be the same, but upgraded...if you know what I mean. If you've read my story, you'll know what I'm talking about: I was thinking about putting in a part about when Zoey first came to the school, and then flash forward to when she's friends with Frieda and Daisy and all that. I have most of the material, but I'm just struggling to piece it together, and in order to do that, I'm going to have to make some serious renovations to the story. I may have to delete the story and then repost it. I'm very sorry about that to my readers, but I promise it will be much, much better. I also have some exciting news for my fanfiction: after I get A Blank Page working, I will be continuing the series. I have written a lot for the future stories...I know, I got off topic, but I had writer's block. So anyways, I promise the story will be getting better, and I wish the best to all of my readers and their stories! :D


	2. Preparation

Chapter 1: Preparation

"Here goes nothing," Zoey Parker said as she reached for the eyeliner, setting on top of the bathroom counter. It was her first day at Dakota Union High and she wanted to look perfect for her first day at the new school. Her parents had gotten divorced that summer and it had greatly impacted Zoey's life, especially since she and her sister Crystal were forced to live with her mother, Karen Lismore. Her mother had chosen to move out of their old house in Wyoming and move to Dakota because it was closer to her job. It was going to be a hard change since she just got adjusted to attending Joseph M. Carey high school during her freshman year. Now she was going to have to adjust to another school. Despite this, Zoey tried to be optimistic, which was getting harder to do that morning. Her bleached blonde locks were all frizzed up from the humidity of the late-summer air and she was struggling to put on her eyeliner. Her hand was shaky from nerves. She grimaced at the mistake she had made in the mirror. The smooth, perfect line she wanted to acquire was uneven. "Guess I won't wear eyeliner today," she sighed. She looked under the cabinet and found a container of makeup remover wipes and started wiping the messy smudges off her face, hoping not to get any on her favorite blue Abercrombie T-shirt with her black yoga pants. After she removed the excess makeup on her face she looked at her hair. There was nothing she could really do about it, since she was already running late. She decided to tie it in a ponytail, revealing her natural light brown hair-color underneath, for the time being.

After she was finished with her morning routine, she checked in the mirror one last time. Satisfied, she headed downstairs, sliding down the banister of the town home in the process. She passed by the kitchen on her way to the door, noticing that her mother appeared to have left for work. She rolled her eyes; her mother always left early for her job and arrived home late at night. Her head was in her work, all the time. Zoey dismissed the thought and ran to the front door. Her solid purple backpack was resting to the left of the front door. She picked it up and slung it over her shoulder. Looking back at the house, she realized her older sister, Crystal, probably already left. Crystal was a senior and always rode her snazzy red Camaro to school, a present from her mother. Zoey preferred to walk, after all, the school was so close. A little exercise couldn't hurt anyone. Zoey opened the front door and stepped out into the porch. After locking the door, she turned around, facing the world before her. A faint smile crept upon her face and her eyes were twinkling with anticipation. "I'm ready."

Zoey was desperately searching for her first period class. To her, it was like trying to find a needle in a haystack. All the halls looked the same; she felt like she was wandering in circles. Of course she had been to a high school before, but it was set up completely different than Carey High. A strand of light hair had escaped the hold of Zoey's hair tie and dangled in front of her eye, tickling her nose. She blew it away in frustration, hoping she would find some enlightenment soon.

Both Richie and Virgil were standing by their lockers, waiting for the bell to go to class. Richie had his nose in a book titled Cyber Mechanics and was furiously taking notes, scribbling every precious word onto a little yellow sticky note. Virgil was listening to his iPod, more specifically, one of Adam's new tunes. It was about this time of year when he had become Static last year, which reminded him of how difficult it was to keep his secret identity after all the chaos that had happened. Sometimes he wondered what would happen if he and Richie's identities were discovered. How safe would they be afterwards? The other bang-baby criminals could find them anywhere, even at school. How safe would his family be? Or Richie's? The bang-babies would find a good use for them, most likely as bait or bribery to put Static and Gear in their place. That had been the reason for them not being honest with their families. They were a lot safer if their families didn't know their identities. But Virgil had promised his himself he tell his pops one day, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.

Virgil shook his head; he did not want to think about this right now. He wasn't going to agonize over something that probably was never going to happen. Besides, it was the first day of school. No need to get worked up about anything. Talk about pressure. He decided not to worry about it now.

He leaned against his locker, his foot tapping to the beat of the song and tried to enjoy what little time they had left before they had to start heading to class. He observed his surroundings, his mind lost in another world. Everything was normal, no different than last year. He recognized many faces, most of which who had been in his freshman class as well. He watched the sea of people pass by, though there was one student who seemed out of place. Her bleached blonde hair was tied in ponytail and she was dressed in a blue Aeropostale T-shirt with black yoga pants. She looked incredibly lost. Virgil had been taught to help others as he grew up, especially after his mom had died in a cross-fire when she had been trying to save a wounded gang member. Since then, Virgil had vowed to help others like his mom, which is why he became Static, to protect others from the slime bags most bang-babies had become. It was his duty to help the girl who was obviously struggling. He tapped on Richie's shoulder. "Hey, Richie." Richie glanced up from what he was doing, obviously distracted with new discoveries in reading his book. He was probably coming up with new ideas for new inventions or for upgrading the condition of the abandoned gas station that was also known as their headquarters.

"Yeah, Virgil?" Virgil nodded off into the sea of students making their way to their class.

"See that girl over there?"

Richie adjusted his glasses to make sure he saw what Virgil was pointing at. He followed Virgil's gaze and focused on a girl with the dirty blonde hair in a bun and wearing a blue shirt and black pants.

"Yeah...what about her?" he asked. Virgil turned to Richie with a sympathetic look in his eye.

"She looks lost. Maybe we can help her." Richie didn't respond immediately. He appeared to be analyzing the situation on a second-by-second basis.

"Uh...yeah. Sure." He finally said. Virgil nodded and started walking towards her direction. He turned and motioned Richie to follow.


	3. Crossing Paths

Chapter 2: Crossing Paths

As Zoey walked around, desperate to find her first class, out of the corner of her eye, she saw two students walking toward her: an African American guy and a blonde-haired guy with square-framed glasses. They were both average height for males, but definitely taller than her, considering she was on the shorter side, even for a girl. She braced herself as she realized they were approaching her. Zoey wasn't usually a shy person by nature, but events of her past had taught her to be cautious when dealing with people. Yet, most people that knew her considered her an outgoing person. She learned how to be sociable and keep busy. That way, she wouldn't have to be at home quite so much. She smiled at them, realizing they didn't seem like much of a threat, as she felt a warm, inviting aura around them, not to mention they were smiling sincerely back at her. The two guys stopped in front of her, both with kind expressions plastered upon their faces. The African American spoke first.

"Hi, I'm Virgil Hawkins. And this is Richie Foley." Virgil motioned toward the blonde, who had a large grin on his face.

"Hi," he said. Zoey waved at him.

"Hey," she replied. Zoey turned back to Virgil.

"And you are?" he asked. Zoey was secretly surprised they had even approached her and she wondered why they were so interested in her. Yet, it was flattering. Her father had told her she had a way for attracting people and making new friends. Maybe these two would be her first.

"Zoey Parker," the girl replied. "I just moved to Dakota." The corners of her mouth lowered ever so slightly, but tried to mask it by grinning a bit bigger. She didn't want to bother explaining why right now. Virgil nodded, not appearing to notice.

"Cool," he said. "Anyway, it's nice to meet you." Virgil extended his hand and she shook it. Then she turned to Richie, who also stuck out his hand.

"Yeah, it's a pleasure to meet you, Zoey." Zoey took the hand, noticing the strong and firm grip the boy had, despite his slender frame. She blushed as she noticed he was kind of cute. He had a lively twinkle in his eyes, which were a light hazel color.

"You too," she said. Zoey stood there with her two new acquaintances, wondering how they would fit into her sophomore career. As if Virgil read her mind, he cleared his throat to speak.

"We couldn't help but notice you seem kinda lost." Zoey playfully rolled her eyes.

"Oh my gosh, you have no idea." Richie and Virgil chuckled while a faint smile widened across their faces.

"Well, we could show you around if you want," Richie said. Virgil agreed.

"Yeah, that'd be cool. What's your first class?" Zoey glanced down at her schedule.

"I have...physics with McGill." Zoey looked up at the two friends who then had knowing smirks. Her eyebrows furrowed, trying to look serious but failed when she felt a smirk spread across her face.

"What?" she asked suspiciously. Virgil and Richie looked sheepish.

"Oh, Mr. McGill..." Virgil started. "He's quite a..."

"Character," Richie finished. They were on the verge of laughter. Zoey stuck her free hand on her hip, knowing there was something up with these two guys who were about to crack up in front of her.

"What's wrong with Mr. McGill?"

"Everything," Richie muttered. Virgil elbowed his friend in the gut.

"There's nothing seriously wrong with him. It's just, he seems to lack, I don't know..."

"Personality," Richie finished. Virgil shot a glare at Richie.

"Sorry, bro, continue," Richie looked at Virgil, not hiding the fact he found antagonizing him amusing. Virgil cleared his throat.

"It's just that sometimes, we feel like he needs to loosen up." Richie rolled his eyes, turning serious for a moment.

"His class is so boring. We had him last year for Chemistry. It was torture. Normally I like working with chemicals and all that stuff, but he made me hate it." Zoey suddenly felt a little uncertain. She did not want a boring class and she certainly knew it'd be hard to get along with a teacher that was the opposite of her. And it was first hour. Virgil detected the concern on her face. He put his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Zoe. It's not that bad. Richie tends to exaggerate." Richie crossed his arms, offended by his friend's comment. "Besides, we have the same class as you." Zoey's face suddenly lit up like a Christmas tree.

"Really? Cool!" she exclaimed. Richie chuckled.

"Yeah, you won't have to brave his class alone, Zoey. We're here for you." The last sentence made her feel warm and fuzzy inside. It was good to know she had allies who had her back.

"Thanks, guys," she smiled. Virgil returned the smile.

"No problem, we'll walk you there." Zoey's spirits lifted. She had been miserable for so long, it looked like things were finally turning around. She had some new friends she could hang out with, like maybe after school, so she wouldn't have to go home. They were friendly, sincere, and sweet. Not to mention the blonde, Richie, was cute. She walked between her new friends, Richie to her left and Virgil to her right, heading to the ominous class known as Mr. McGill's Physics class.


	4. McGill's Class

Chapter 3: McGill's Class

"Okay class, today we are going to learn about..." a middle-aged man announced in his draggy, monotone voice. Mr. McGill was somewhere in his fifties, average height and on the stocky side. The large bald spot on top of his head, with the exception of a few gray hairs, shined under the florescent lights of the classroom. Plastic framed glass sat on the bridge of his nose, intensifying the resemblance to an old librarian. His eyes were glazed over and he looked tired. Tired and bored, like all the fun and liveliness was sucked out of him into a giant super-strength vacuum. Zoey turned around to face Virgil, who was sitting behind her, with Richie in the desk next to him. She scooted her chair closer to Virgil and gripped the back of the chair

"Does he always start his classes that way?" she asked. Virgil paused, and then nodded.

"Yeah, pretty much," he replied.

"And does he always talk in that voice?" Richie was sitting at his desk, his hand propped against his cheek, forcing himself to stay awake.

"Uh huh," he moaned. Zoey smiled.

"I see what you meant when you described his lack of personality," she giggled. Zoey didn't have a clue that Mr. McGill was staring right at her, his eyes burning a hole through the back of her head. Virgil noticed this and tapped her on the wrist.

"Uh...Zoey." Zoey furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, until Virgil pointed toward the front of the room. She quickly spun around to see Mr. McGill watching her, along with a few of her classmates. "Please pay attention, Miss Parker," he ordered. Zoey grinned sheepishly down at her desk, trying to look guilty.

"Sorry Mr. McGill," she apologized. The blonde turned around and flashed a smile at Richie and Virgil, who both gave her a thumbs-up. This class wasn't going to be as bad if she got on McGill's good side.

The sound of the bell dismissed the class and the three friends stood up to leave. "So Zoey, what class do you have second hour?" Virgil asked as the three left the classroom. Zoey pulled out her schedule from between the pages of her notebook and handed it to Virgil. Virgil took it and studied it with Richie looking over his shoulder.

"Aw, it looks like you don't have any classes with us before lunch," he concluded. Richie adjusted his glasses, a look of disappointment taking over.

"That's too bad," he added. Zoey stared down at her feet, completely bummed. Virgil and Richie noticed the discouragement in Zoey's silence. Richie tried to cheer her up. Trying to be optimistic he said, "But we will still see you at lunch. Maybe we can all sit together."

"Yeah!" Virgil piped in, "And we can walk you to your next class, which is…" he glanced back down on her schedule. "…business essentials. Hey, I think that's what Frieda has." Zoey looked at Virgil.

"Who's Frieda?" she asked. Virgil looked at Zoey's questioning face.

"She's one of our friends. You'd like her, except she can get a little crazy sometimes." Richie chuckled.

"Haha, watch out for Hurricane Frieda!" he joked. "When ideas get in her head, it's useless to try and stop her." Zoey smiled. Frieda seemed like a cool person, and there was no doubt that she had a way with people. She wondered what this "famous" Frieda character was like, and was no doubt looking forward to meeting her. It'd be nice to have a friend who shared similar qualities with her. She'd be so wrapped up in her friends that the year would just roll by and she wouldn't have to worry about anything.

Virgil and Richie walked with Zoey to her business essentials class. It was kind of out of the way of her other classes; she was glad she had Virgil and Richie with her so she could get to it on time. They stopped in front of a classroom at the end hall that had BUSINESS ESSENTIALS written on the door. Many students were already inside, chatting with one another. Zoey turned to Virgil and Richie, feeling an overwhelming amount of appreciation for her friends.

"Thanks for helping me find my class, guys," Zoey said. Virgil waved her comment aside.

"No problem," Virgil said.

"It was our pleasure," Richie added. "So I guess we'll see you at lunch then?" Zoey nodded.

"Yeah."

"And don't worry about getting lost, Frieda will show you there," Virgil reassured her. As if on cue, they heard a familiar voice call from behind them.

"Virgil! Richie!"

They turned around to find Frieda sitting at the front of the room with her usual cheerful smile, waving at them.

"Hey Frieda!" the guys waved. Zoey smiled at her. _So this is the Frieda that they keep talking about. She looks friendly enough_. Virgil glanced at the clock. "Richie, we really have to go. We only have a little over a minute." He said, concerned. He glanced at Richie, who had a devious grin on his face.

'I'll race you there."

"Alright then, game on," Virgil challenged. The two started bounding down the halls as fast as their legs could carry them, as if their life depended on it.

"See you, Zoey!" They called from behind her.


	5. Frieda

Chapter 4: Frieda

After they had left, Zoey headed into the classroom. She saw the girl named Frieda was staring at her with an inquisitive look on her face. Taking a deep breath to prepare her, Zoey smiled at Frieda, trying to clear her mind of all doubts. To Zoey's delight, the auburn-haired girl smiled back and waved, then tapped the desk next to her, motioning for Zoey to sit down beside her. "Hey, take a seat," Frieda said. Zoey slowly sat down, feeling Frieda's eyes on her the whole time. It was a bit unnerving to her. "Zoey, right?" Frieda asked. Zoey turned to Frieda. Frieda's eyes were wide with curiosity and a sense of enthusiasm Zoey had never seen before in a person. She nodded; flattered that Frieda had bothered to pay attention.

"Yep, that's me." Frieda rested her elbows on her desk and folded her hands as though she was about to interview Zoey.

"I heard you talking to Virgil and Richie. They're something alright." She shook her head as she said this. Zoey smiled, knowing that she too had met the infamous Virgil and Richie. She considered responding by saying that they said the same thing about Frieda but she didn't want to make Frieda upset until she was sure Frieda was as easygoing as she seemed to be. Frieda's voice cut through her thoughts. "So, are you new here?" she asked. Zoey nodded.

"Yeah, I moved from Wyoming," she replied, not wanting to reveal too much about herself yet, especially the reason why she had moved. Frieda seemed satisfied with this answer.

"Cool. Do you like journalism," Frieda asked. Zoey blinked, a bit caught off guard with her sudden change in topic.

"Come again?" Frieda's eyes were even wider than they were before. Her enthusiasm made Zoey a tad nervous, especially since she had no clue what Frieda was so excited about, but at the same time it was refreshing.

"Journalism," Frieda stated as though it was the most important thing in the world. Zoey smiled to herself. She had never even considered journalism before. She thought it basically consisted of stories written by gossipers that would stretch the truth to get attention. Of course, she didn't want to say this to Frieda, who was obviously excited about it, and shook her head.

"Haven't thought about it," she said. Persuasive by nature, Frieda did not waste time to jump at the chance to round up another recruit.

"I'm the president of the journalism club. You should come to one of our meetings after school tomorrow." Her face was beaming with pride at the club, which had been known to be very successful in writing the school newspaper, and putting certain people in their place. Justice was important to Frieda; especially since last year the school district had cut the budget and had almost forced all clubs except athletics to shut down. Frieda had been very upset about it, so she wrote an article arguing why the school should keep their clubs, and because of it, the school's clubs had been saved, and Frieda was the one to thank for making the change. Since then, she was very much respected. Zoey was hesitant at first, but then she thought why not. She wanted Frieda to like her; she was desperate to be a part of something, and by the way Frieda was acting, she couldn't say no.

"Sure, I'll go." Frieda let out a squeal of delight, and did not pay any attention to the pairs of eyes that were now staring at them.

"Yay! It'll be so much fun!" She clapped her hands, happy to have another person that could help her out, besides Daisy. The thought of Daisy made Frieda turned to Zoey, still keeping her animated expression.

"I can't wait for you to meet Daisy!"

"Who's Daisy?" Zoey asked. Before she could get an answer out of Frieda, the bell rang, and as quickly as Frieda had gotten herself all excited, she had calmed herself down. Within seconds she was facing the board and looking attentive, ready to learn. Zoey's mind was racing, and she did not feel very focused. Still, she imitated Frieda, wondering exactly what her new friend had in store for her.

The bell rang, signaling the end of fourth hour. Zoey rose from her seat in some sort of daze. The last two periods seemed to have gone on forever, and worse, she didn't have anyone to talk to in those two classes. Not to mention that her calculus teacher, Ms. Albert had just given a lecture and talked in the same monotone voice as Mr. McGill did. Were all the teachers at this school this way? Before Frieda had left second hour, she told Zoey that her fourth hour class was just down the hall from hers, so Frieda could walk with her to lunch. Zoey walked to Frieda's fourth hour class and waited outside. Just as expected, Frieda walked out and greeted her new friend.

"Hey Zoey! Sorry it took so long, I had to ask Mr. J a question about last night's homework." Zoey nodded in understanding.

"It's fine, I wasn't waiting that long anyways." Frieda started to speed up her walk and motioned for Zoey to follow.

"Come on, let's go get some lunch. I'm starving."


	6. Lunch

Chapter 5: Lunch

Frieda led Zoey to the cafeteria, which was buzzing with the lively chatter of students. Upon entering, Zoey subconsciously ran her hand through her hair in an attempt to untangle any knots so she would look presentable for whomever she was going to meet this period. Frieda stood at the entrance and scanned the area to see if she could find Virgil, Richie, or Daisy. Zoey stood next to her and did the same, though she was more focused on trying to find Richie and Virgil. At last Frieda pointed somewhere around the corner of the cafeteria.

"Ooh, there's Daisy." Before Zoey could tell who she was pointing at, Frieda was briskly walking towards the table in the back corner of the cafeteria. Zoey followed, making sure she didn't trip over any chairs as she struggled to keep up with Frieda. The cafeteria was extremely crowded; it was hard to not bump into anyone. At last, Frieda reached her destination and plopped down on the seat next to a girl whom Zoey assumed was Daisy.

"Hey Daisy," Frieda said. Zoey took a seat on the other side of Frieda and watched the two curiously.

"Hey Frieda." Daisy's eyes moved towards Zoey, noticing the new girl that had been trailing behind Frieda. "Who's this?" she asked. Zoey opened her mouth to answer, but Frieda had already started talking.

"This is Zoey. She just moved in from Wyoming." Daisy nodded respectively and outstretched a hand.

"Nice to meet you Zoey. I'm Daisy, as you probably have already figured out," she chuckled. Zoey gratefully took Daisy's hand, let go, and continued to watch the two interact.

"She's going to be in the journalism club with us," Frieda said rather proudly.

"Ooh yay!" Daisy exclaimed. "We're always happy to have a new member. At this rate, there's no way the budget cuts will be able to touch us!"

Zoey observed Daisy. The girl had straight, thick dark brown hair that just went past her shoulders. On her face, she wore minimal makeup. She had tan skin and was wearing a red blouse with a daisy emblem on the front. Cute and simple. Zoey had to admit that both Frieda and Daisy appeared to be admirable people, and were obviously the preppy type. But she couldn't help but wonder why girls such as them were hanging around Virgil and Richie. They didn't seem to be the type of girls whom the guys would be hanging out with.

However, Zoey pushed the thought aside and decided to get food. She stood up from her seat, and glanced at the two girls, who were so engrossed in their conversation that they hadn't noticed Zoey's shift in movement. Zoey thought about telling them where she was going, but realized that they could probably guess where she was going without her interrupting their conversation. Still, she didn't want to be rude.

"I'm going to go get some lunch," she said. Sure enough, Frieda and Daisy gave Zoey as much as a nod before continuing their conversation about some latest news story that they would be putting together for the school newspaper. Zoey rolled her eyes; there were certainly enough interesting people at this school.

Speaking of interesting people, Zoey stepped into the lunch line (after taking some time to figure out where it started), only to find that she was behind Virgil and Richie. She noticed the familiar green sweater with the orange stripe running across the middle in front of her and silently chuckled to herself. Then she casually tapped the "green sweater boy's" shoulder, causing him to spin around and face her.

"Ah, Zoey. Strange seeing you here," the blond joked. The mention of Zoey caused the guy in front of Richie to turn around as well.

"Hey Zoey. Glad you're here. Now you can finally enjoy the famous cafeteria food," Virgil chuckled. Zoey smiled, but felt her stomach do a flip. She was familiar enough with Virgil to know he was being sarcastic, meaning the food was terrible.

"Thanks for reminding me. I'll remind myself to bring a sack lunch from now on," she muttered.

"Come on, it's not _that_ bad. Everything just needs to taste better, that's all," Virgil said. "But seriously, the food is okay. Just stay away from the mystery meat. No one knows what they put in there."

"I'll keep that in mind," she said, meaning every word of it. The three slowly made their way to the front of the line where the food was being served. Richie picked up a plate with a brown blob of goop on it. Zoey crinkled her nose in disgust.

"Ew, what is that? How can you eat that stuff?" Richie looked at Zoey, amused.

"Roast beef. Need the protein. Geniuses like me need to keep our brains fully functional." Zoey rolled her eyes at him, obviously not convinced.

"Riiight."


End file.
